Going the extra mile…

The Lord Is My Chef Daily Recipe for the Soul by Fr. Nicanor F. Lalog II
Monday in the Eleventh Week of Ordinary Time, Year II, 17 June 2024
1 Kings 21:1-16 <*((((><< + >><))))*> Matthew 5:38-42
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon, April 2020.
Your words today, O God
are so agitating,
"nakaka-init po ng ulo":
it is an old story we have
all memorized but every time
we hear it, we are so moved
in anger because it continues
to happen in our own time,
especially the truth
that we never run out of scoundrels,
of corrupt and evil people
willing to sell their souls,
to lie and malign others,
even kill for money and
wealth.

This is what Jezebel wrote in the letters: “Proclaim a fast and set Naboth at the head of the people. Next, get two scoundrels to face him and accuse him of having cursed God and king. Then take himmout and stone him to death.” His fellow citizens – the elders and the nobles who dwelt in his city – dis as Jezebel had ordered them in writing, through the letters she had sent them… On hearing that Naboth was dead, Ahab started off on his way down to the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite, to take possession of it.

1 Kings 21:9-11, 16
Forgive us, merciful Father
in conniving with the modern
Jezebels and scoundrels
with our nasty talks and comments
against others especially
in social media;
we may not be committing sin
at the same scale as that of
Jezebel and her cohorts but
still, we continue this cycle of
evil and violence in what we
consider at small talks that are
true after all...
Oh God, forgive us in taking
away the honor and dignity
of so many people with our careless
comments and even likes in social media
posts.
Teach us in Jesus Christ
your Son, Father,
to go the extra mile in fighting
this vicious circle of evil;
give us the courage in Jesus
to turn the other cheek
by firmly standing on our ground
at His Cross in resisting
violence and revenge,
in showing others that
love always prevails,
the love is the most potent
force in the universe not
greed nor hatred,
that only love conquers all.
Amen.
Photo by Dra. Mylene A. Santos, MD in Infanta, Quezon, April 2020.

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